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How to Install the Mustangs Unlimited Extended Range Fuel Tank

Get more mileage between fill-ups with a direct fit fuel tank swap from Mustangs Unlimited

Just a few years ago the majority of vintage Mustang owners we knew had “museum art pieces” sitting in their garages that resembled the shape of a Mustang. Seriously, they’d take their Mustang out a few times a year to the annual local show or maybe trailer it to an MCA National if it was close enough and you would be hard pressed to find five gallons in the gas tank. Today it is a different story. Sure, there are many museum pieces still sitting in garages itching to stretch their legs, but the general consensus seems to have swung the opposite direction to the belief that, as long as it’s not super rare it’s better to get their vintage Mustang out on the road and drive them, as Ford intended when they built them. With the 50th Anniversary just around the corner, we know a lot of people planning to drive to these events via the official caravans.

Making these longer drives today is much more bearable with such upgrades as overdrive transmissions, air conditioning, cruise control, supportive high-back seats, and so forth. Due to the fact that these upgrades, in general, are completely reversible many owners don’t give making these changes for the better a second thought. Driving in today’s traffic with an overdrive transmission, cold air conditioning, and your iPhone plugged in for your favorite tunes really makes the miles fly by. Unfortunately the one issue that still plagues ’65-’69 Mustang owners who drive their cars a lot is the Mustang’s 16 gallon fuel tank. Do the math and you’ll see. The typical small-block with overdrive probably gets about 18 mpg. That’s only 288 miles on a tank, depending upon driving habits, traffic flow, and terrain. If you could up the tank’s capacity to say 22 gallons, then you’d be able to stretch that driving distance out to 396 miles, or another 108 miles. That’s roughly an hour and a half more driving time before having to stop and refuel, and the mileage/time gets better the higher your mpg is!

So you’re asking where do you get a bolt-in 22-gallon fuel tank? Your answer is easy, another Mustang! That’s right; Ford saw fit to equip the ’70 Mustang with a 22-gallon tank to increase driving range. Of course, just dropping in a new ’70 Mustang tank and calling it a day isn’t easy, as the fuel filler position changes. Those that have been privy to this swap (which has been around the hobby as long as we can remember) know that to make it work you have to make your own fuel filler neck or cut and re-weld your existing piece. Even the filler opening in the tank had to be tweaked by use of a jack handle or a section of pipe in the past. Well, it’s the 21st century folks and now you can truly bolt this conversion in with no cutting, tweaking, cursing, or ill-fitting filler neck hose. Frankly, except for the taller tank (which is all above the mounting flange and in the trunk, from outside the car it looks like the stock 16-gallon unit), bolting these parts in is no different than bolting in the stock parts—except you’re gaining six more gallons of fuel! So whether you need the extended driving range, or your Mustang simply needs a new fuel system, consider this slick 22-gallon conversion kit now available from Mustangs Unlimited. At under $200 for the conversion (and that’s including new hardware we added to our order) it’s a great deal!